WADSWORTH - A month after South Texas Project Unit 2 reactor automatically shut down due to a main generator issue, the unit remains offline.

The shutdown happened days after the unit returned to 100 percent power following a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage in November.

"We continue to make excellent progress working through restoration efforts associated with the shutdown of unit 2," said Buddy Eller, general manager of corporate communications and public affairs for South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Co.

The preliminary inspection of the generator indicates damage to stator coils, Eller said. The ground fault appears to have occurred in one of the coils on the non-nuclear side of the unit and did not affect safety related equipment. Unit 1 continues to operate at 100 percent power.

An outage team of about 400 people have worked through the Christmas holidays to repair the problem, he said.

The 200-ton rotor, that is part of the main generator is at the Siemen's Energy Facility in Charlotte, N.C. and will be completely reworked and refurbished, restoring it to original manufacturer specifications, Eller said.

Siemen's Energy Facility is specifically designed to provide generator and turbine service, he said.

"We have an on-site STP project manager at the Charlotte facility overseeing the work," he said.

Seventy-two new stator coils for the main generator will also be manufactured at the Siemen's facility in Fort Payne, Ala. All 72 stator coils have been removed from the generator at the STP site, he said.

"We are making good progress in the restoration phase and we want to make sure we do everything safely and effectively," he said.